Formula 1 already braced for 22 race marathon in 2020. Seven pairs of races will run on consecutive weekends.

When Formula 1 returns next season, there will be a record 22 events on the schedule which has triggered renewed concerns about the demands being placed on those who keep the travelling circus on the road.

The schedule has lost Germany but is expanding with the addition of Vietnam and the return after a long absence of Dutch circuit Zandvoort. Ultimately, commercial rights holders Liberty Media want to structure the calendar so they can accommodate a maximum of 25 races. Over the last decade, Formula 1 has spread its wings far beyond its European heartland and added lucrative races in Asia and the Middle East. Of the 17 races in the 2000 season, only six were outside Europe. Next year, 13 of the 22 races will be long-haul “flyaways”.

“We care deeply about it,” Formula One Chief Executive Chase Carey, appointed after U.S.-based Liberty took over the sport in 2017, told reporters in Abu Dhabi when asked about the toll taken by such a long season. “Ultimately the jobs of the people come from having a healthy sport. We need to make the sport healthy but try to do it in a way that is very cognisant of the pressure and the wear and tear,” the American said.

Race weekends are set to be shortened by a day from 2021, running from Friday to Sunday instead of the current Thursday start. The mandatory curfew, during which team personnel who work on the car are not allowed to enter the circuit, is set to get longer.

Seven pairs of races will run on consecutive weekends: Australia and Bahrain, the Netherlands and Spain, Azerbaijan and Canada, France and Austria, Belgium and Italy, Singapore and Russia, and finally USA and Mexico. However there will be no run of the three consecutive race weekends seen last year.

2020 F1 calendar